TO celebrate its centenary, a Fort William museum has launched a crowdfunding campaign to bring portraits of Bonnie Prince Charlie and other members of the Stuart family to Lochaber.
The West Highland Museum will turn 100 next year and its ambitious campaign to bring 13 portraits of the Stuart family - some of which have never before been displayed in the UK - is looking to raise £25,000.
Charles Edward Stuart led the Jacobite uprising after the Standard was raised at Glenfinnan in 1745. It was a bid to retake the British throne for the Stuart family but ultimately failed after the Battle of Culloden in 1746.
The Stuarts ruled Scotland from 1371 and were the first monarchs to rule England and Scotland from 1603, with James VI of Scotland succeeding to the English throne after Elizabeth I’s death.
READ MORE: The Bonnie Prince and the king who finally refused to indulge his cause
If the campaign is successful, it will likely be the last time the Jacobite paintings are displayed in Scotland as they are set to go on permanent display at a museum in Poland.
The West Highland museum needs to raise £25,000 in order to transport the collection that it hopes can be displayed next year.
The funding bid is being supported by historian and the BBC's Grand Tour of Scotland host Paul Murton, who hosted the campaign video.
The paintings of multiple generations of the Stuart dynasty have never been displayed together in the UK before and some have never before been exhibited here.
A portrait of an elderly Charles, painted in Rome by Hugh Douglas Hamilton two years before his death in 1788, had its last Scottish display in Glasgow in 1910.
It also hopes to include a portrait of the Bonnie Prince at age 16, painted by renowned Venetian artist Rosalba Carriera, believed to be the only portrait of Charles that pre-dates the 1745 Jacobite Rising.
Other paintings include that of Charles' father James VIII and his wife Princess Clementina Sobieska (below) and the Bonnie Prince's daughter Charlotte the Duchess of Albany and her daughter, Marie Victoire Princess de Rohan.
The museum's director, Chris Robinson, said: “We need to raise £25,000 to cover the cost of delivering this exciting exhibition to the public in 2022.
“We need your help in raising funds to make this happen and bring Bonnie Prince Charlie and the exiled Stuarts back to Scotland.
“It will likely be the last time these iconic portraits will be displayed in the United Kingdom as they may soon be on permanent display at a European museum.”
READ MORE: How Bonnie Prince Charlie escaped to France after Culloden
Vanessa Martin, curator at West Highland Museum, said: “The museum is world-famous for its Jacobite exhibitions and has built up an important collection since the museum’s inception in 1922.
"In 1925 the museum held its first major public exhibition dedicated to the Jacobites and established itself as a Jacobite Museum. The Jacobite Rising started here in Lochaber with Prince Charles Edward Stuart raising his father’s Standard at Glenfinnan on 19 August to signal the start of the last Jacobite Rising.
"For our centenary, we have been offered this wonderful opportunity by the Pininski Foundation to present a public exhibition of rarely displayed royal portraiture.”
READ MORE: The story of the last Stuart: The man who would (not) be king
The West Highland Museum has until Monday, November 15 to raise the money and there are a range of rewards on offer for those backing it ranging from £5 to £995.
Rewards on offer include a set of postcards and a tote bag up to an exclusive brooch inspired by the landscape of Ben Nevis and invites to the champagne launch event.
You can donate to the crowdfunded and find out more about the potential exhibition by visiting this link.
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